Educational creativity

Today we read this cute story about an octopus who just can't get her ink cloud right.  It is a great story to enforce color recognition and to keep trying. We made a Cartesian diver to represent Octavia.  The pics are kind of hard to see I think because they reflect off the water.  When you put a little colored water in the diver it will spit out an ink cloud just like Octavia. How to make a Cartesian diver.  Preparation takes  a lot of adult preparation, but the kids love squeezing the bottle to see the ink cloud. (good for the muscles) You need a plastic pipet. I've gotten them in art and education stores in the science section.  (I will give you some links for using a straw and an eye dropper) Cut the end off and put a nut on the end to weigh it down. Now is when you may want to decorate it like an octopus.  Use waterproof materials and make sure you don't cover up the hole.  We used electrical tape, string, and tried permanent marker...

I found this little light box that changes colors from red to blue to green at the Dollar Tree.  I made some color cards from some left over tissue paper squares and contact paper.  If I were to make them again, I would use one sheet of color instead of squares. When you hold the color cards over the light you can see some mixing of colors.  Worth $1. We also used the cards with a flashlight. I'm always jealous when I see people with a light table. But thanks to Deborah at Teach Preschool, we can all afford one. I will be making my own version of the light table. DIY light table